


Through His Eyes

by TeamHPForever



Category: X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Disabled Character, M/M, Mention of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-02-06 20:57:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1872216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamHPForever/pseuds/TeamHPForever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles Xavier was born blind. When he was young, he would catch glimpses of the world from the minds of others but he didn't want to be intrusive. Not until Erik finds out and offers to be his eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through His Eyes

The first time Charles sees his mother he’s nine years old and it’s through Kurt’s eyes. The entire image is blurred with alcohol and tinged scarlet. Her blond hair, normally lush and filled with waves, hangs lank around her face. The skin around her right eye is yellowish with a still-healing bruise.

Kurt lets his fist swing again and the image disappears. Charles hears the thud and the cry of pain. He hides under the table, reaching out with his mind for his mother’s. Pain radiates through her jaw, but he doesn’t think it’s broken. He takes the pain into his own body, soothing her pulses of adrenaline with his mind.

***

The second time is his mother’s funeral. Charles slips into Cain’s mind and finds that if he turns himself outward, he can see the world. The sun is bright and shining in the blue sky overhead. Trees dance in the wind. And in front of them is a rich brown casket sinking into the ground.

Charles can feel a hand resting on his shoulder, but it’s Cain Kurt is comforting, not him. He closes his eyes and withdraws his mind. If he sees anything more, he might break down and he won’t give Kurt the satisfaction.

***

After that, Charles slips into people’s minds more often, just to catch a glimpse of the world. As much as he loves to hear the birds sing, feel the hot crackle of the fire, smell the incoming rain on the wind, it’s nice to see them too.

The books lining the shelves of the library through the eyes of a maid dusting them.

Lightning splitting the sky through Kurt’s eyes as he watches through the window of his office.

The enormous outside of the estate through Cain’s eyes as he walks up the driveway.

It isn’t until Charles forces their driver to look at a field of horses and they almost crash into a lorry that’s hugging the middle of the road that Charles realizes that he can’t do it anymore. He settles back into his own mind and focuses on the senses that he has.

***

When Kurt dies in a lab accident, Charles can feel the whole of his future stretching out in front of him. He enrolls himself immediately in a prestigious but small college. They’re not taking any more students but it only takes the sound of his last name for them to make an exception.

Charles doesn’t have to be able to see to know that money talks. The room he’s given seems spacious enough. The complex of dorms is right on campus, not far from the science buildings where he’ll be taking most of his classes.

The school assigns him a guide just to show him where everything is. Her name is Moira and she sounds lovely. Her surface thoughts are kind and soothing, though they quickly shift to excited and passionate when she realizes how much he knows about her field of genetics.

They talk all through the tour. She shows him to the science building and where all of his classes are. Dining services. The study lounge.

Charles is headed back into the dorms alone when his cane hits something solid but soft. “I’m sorry,” he says automatically, trying not to think about the time he said that to a couch in front of Cain. Usually he can navigate around people pretty well according to the touch of their thoughts but it’s harder here with so many people around.

“My fault.” The answering voice is low and deep. German. The surface of his mind thrums with a low amusement, but not the kind that comes from disdain. It’s strange and Charles wants to push deeper to understand it, but he can’t. He doesn’t do that anymore. “Do you need any help?”

“I’ve got it, thanks.” Charles waits until he hears the rustle of the man’s clothes as he steps out of the way and then moves forward. The man falls into step beside him. “Weren’t you going the other way?”

“I just came out of my room.” He chuckles, following along at a respectful distance, not crowding Charles’ space like some people who think he needs to be guided even though he’s doing just fine.

“All right.” Charles pauses. “I’m Charles Xavier.”

“Erik Lehnsherr.”

Charles is thankful that he doesn’t comment on his name. There isn’t a sign of it even touching his thoughts. “Are you a freshman, Erik?”

“Sophomore. Decided it wasn’t worth it to move off-campus this semester.” One of his heels scuffs against the floor. “You must be a freshman. I haven’t seen you around before.”

Charles nods. “I am.” He’s so distracted that he almost walks directly past his own room. He stops, brushing his fingers across the braille below his number just to be sure. Room 147. “It was nice to meet you, Erik.”

“You too. I’ll see you around.” Erik continues on, his footsteps fading into the distance. It takes Charles a couple tries to get his key into the lock but he manages. That velvet voice plays out in his dreams that night, always echoing in the background.

***

Charles doesn’t run into Erik again until after classes have started. One minute he’s eating a sandwich alone in the dining hall and the next he hears a chair scraping across the floor.

“It’s Erik,” that beautiful voice says and Charles relaxes immediately. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Charles schools his face into a smile. Erik’s mind is roiling today, so much that it’s hard to get a read on him without looking in. Charles withdraws, his head starting to ache from the turmoil.

“How is the semester going so far?”

Charles thinks of the struggle to acquaint himself with the classrooms, remind each new professor that he’s been given permission to tape the lectures, and the massive argument that broke out during his Introduction to Genetics lecture. “Going well.”

“Really? I heard you and Shaw got into it pretty badly.” There’s a grin in Erik’s voice and Charles wishes that he could see it.

“How’d you know about that?” Charles prays that he doesn’t get mayonnaise on his clothes as he takes another bite of his sandwich.

“Emma Frost, his T.A., is in one of my classes. She told me.” Whatever Erik’s eating cracks loudly. Must be carrots.

“We had a disagreement on the practical applications of genetic research,” Charles admits.

“Tell me about it.”

Charles opens his mouth, wondering briefly if Erik knows what he’s getting into, and then launches into a discussion of his favorite topic. It’s clear that Erik isn’t a scientist, but he’s knowledgeable enough to keep up and offer opinions of his own.

Gradually they agree to disagree on some points and the conversation relaxes. Charles learns that Erik loves to play chess, is an engineering major, and was born in Germany. Erik doesn’t say much about his childhood but neither does Charles so he supposes they’re even in that respect.

When Erik has to leave to head to class, they agree to meet up later for a game of chess in Charles’ room. He can’t wait.

***

The chess set is old and more than a little banged up, but it reminds Charles of a happier time when his mother taught him to play. Now it’s Erik sitting on the other side and arranging the board.

“You’re white,” Erik says once he’s settled down in his chair.

Charles reaches out, feeling the dimensions of the board and familiarizing himself with the location of the pieces. The set is custom made, the dark squares raised slightly above the light ones so that he knows where he’s moving the pieces. Charles moves a pawn forward.

“Would you like me to call out my moves?” Erik asks cautiously.

“Yes, thank you.” Charles lets out a smile. “But how do I know I can trust you?”

“You probably shouldn’t,” Erik replies, his tone dropping several notes deeper. Despite that, when he announces his move there’s no hint of deception across his thoughts. They continue for some time until Erik calls out, “Checkmate!” Charles reaches out for the board, brushing each piece with his fingers.

It is indeed. “Very good game, my friend.”

“You almost had me.” Erik makes a groaning noise low in his throat as she stretches himself out. “I’m starved. Do you want to order something?”

“Sure.” Charles digs around in his desk drawer until he finds a couple menus for local take-out places. In the end, they decide on Chinese and eat it straight out of the carton. Erik pops down to his room before it arrives, returning with a pair of metal forks.

“Why engineering?” Charles asks as he sets the carton of sesame chicken down on the table to reach for a drink.

“I like knowing how things work. Fitting them together to make them run.”

Charles nods, thinking that he feels the same way about people and genetics. He reaches out for the carton of food again and hears the heavy clank as his fork clatters to the floor. “Damn it.”

“Here, I’ve got an extra.” Charles doesn’t hear anyone move but then there’s the cold bump of metal against his skin as a fork is held out to his hand. When the grabs it, there’s no brush of skin against his hand.

Charles reaches out for Erik’s mind and finds the bitter pangs of caution. “You’re a mutant,” Charles whispers.

“Yes.” The word is a challenge, spit out like the throwing of the gauntlets.

“How did you do that?” Charles runs his fingers over the fork but it feels perfectly normal. It could be the same one that he dropped on the floor and he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

"I can control metal." Erik's voice is starting to relax now that he's realizing that Charles isn't going to react with fear or hatred like so many others would.

Charles licks his lips, mouth dry. Erik might be a fellow mutant but that doesn't mean he'll understand telepathy. He's told a few people over the years but most of them have reacted with revulsion. People don't generally take kindly to the idea of someone being able to delve into their minds and know all of their personal thoughts.

"What can you do?" Erik asks and now there isn't a choice.

"I'm a telepath." Charles waits a moment before he continues. "Most of the time I just sense people's surface emotions and thoughts. General things."

"And other times?" Erik's voice is tight but he's still here. That's better than some.

"I can delve deeper. Look into subconscious thoughts and emotions, memories, anything."

Erik doesn't say anything for the longest time. Charles lets him deal with the news on his own, no matter how much he wants to take a peek into Erik's mind to find out exactly what he's thinking.

Then, "Are you reading my mind right now?"

"No." Charles exhales a sigh of relief. "It's hard for me to hold back from hearing anything, but I can do it."

"You don't have to," Erik says, his voice just barely above a whisper. Charles accepts the offer, letting his mind out slowly. He brushes against Erik's, feeling the familiar turmoil of thoughts rushing beneath the surface. Above them all is a deep undercurrent of what Charles can only describe as kinship. He can understand that. It’s been a long time since he’s revealed himself to another mutant, a long time since Raven crashed into his life and introduced him to the idea that he didn’t have to be alone.

They play another game of chess—Charles wins this time—before Erik heads off to his own room. Charles feels strangely alone without the warmth of another person as he tries to concentrate on some homework before bed.

***

It’s a couple weeks before it hits Charles that he and Erik have settled into a _routine._ They go their separate ways throughout the day, rushing to class and meetings, but when they’re both out for the afternoon they meet up for dinner followed by an evening back in the dorms.

Erik’s room is more cluttered than Charles’ with half-finished metalwork projects and strange tools lying everywhere. Erik shoves everything to the sides as best he can and then shows Charles around. He watches Charles run his hands down the only project he’s finished so far—an intricately made metal chest of woven strands of steel.

“When I was a kid, I used to slip into other people’s minds so that I could see,” Charles admits, the words slipping out before he can think twice about it. They’d been talking about the extent of his powers earlier but he hadn’t meant to tell Erik about that part of things.

Erik freezes, his breath the only sound indicating he’s still there. “You don’t anymore?”

“I can’t.” Charles moves on, feeling his way across the room with his hand instead of his cane. He’d never forgive himself if he knocked something over and broke one of Erik’s projects.

“What if they…offered?”

Charles holds his breath, almost afraid to speak. “What are you saying?”

“I can be your eyes. Just for a little bit.” Erik’s voice is confident and so are his thoughts, though Charles is sure he would find anxiety if he looked deeper. Erik isn’t the type of person to surrender control to just anyone.

“Are you sure? It’s the same state that I can use to control people. I almost made our driver crash when I was young because I wanted to see the horses.” Charles shuffles his feet. He’s never told that to anyone.

“You were inexperienced then.” _Come in,_ Erik projects. They’ve been working on it for a few days and already Erik is better at it than Raven, who’s had years of practice.

Charles nods, reaching out with his mind until he slips into Erik’s head. He tries to ignore Erik’s thoughts in favor of the outside world, but they swirl around him in a distracting spiral. Thoughts of classes, of homework, of taking shifts as a mechanic on afternoons and weekends to earn extra money. Thoughts of Charles are weaved throughout. Charles sees himself for the first time in years, a young man with floppy brown hair and blank eyes. Plain pants and plain jumpers, all chosen so that they'll go with anything.

Underneath all the images are a deep feeling of friendship and protectiveness that Charles can't fully understand.

_Sorry,_ Charles thinks and looks out through Erik's eyes. His room is a square box of white walls. There's a bed, a dresser, an end table, a desk, and a mini-fridge. Charles doesn't really care about those. He focuses first on the metal chest. It looks even more beautiful than it felt beneath his hands. The work is delicate.

_That must have taken you a long time,_ Charles says.

_Months. I enjoyed the work, though. It taught me a lot._

Charles can believe that. He glances at the chess game beneath them, taking in the pieces. Then he slips back into his own mind. "Thank you," he says, feeling oddly touched. It's one thing to slip into someone's mind for a few seconds of vision. It's quite another to have that same thing offered as a gift.

“Anytime,” Erik says and his voice is sincere. Charles tries not to think about it too much as they finish their game and then he has to head back to his own room. It’s only when he’s alone again that he realizes just how far gone he is for the man who has become his best friend.

***

They don’t talk about it for a couple of days. That is until Erik shows up at Charles’ dorm on a Saturday morning and says, “Want to take a walk? I’d like to show you the town” and Charles understands immediately what he means.

Once they’re outside, Charles rests a hand against Erik’s elbow and slips into his mind. It’s hard for him to navigate his body while looking out through someone’s eyes, so it helps to have Erik’s grip guiding him.

The campus is more expansive than he expected, long stretches of rolling hills and grassy courtyards. The science buildings stretch for the sky in front of them, all brick and glass. Charles trips over a piece of raised concrete on the sidewalk and loses his grip on Erik’s mind.

“Sorry,” Erik says, radiating guilt.

“It happens.” Charles steadies himself and prepares to enter Erik’s mind again, but he freezes when he feels the engineer’s arm wrap around his waist.

“Is it okay? Will this help?”

“You can…you can give it a shot.” Charles is glad his telepathy doesn’t work in reverse, though he’s pretty sure he’s radiating waves of attraction and nerves right now that anyone would be able to feel. He shakes himself mentally and slips into Erik’s mind again.

They turn and walk toward the outside of campus, following the sidewalk. Charles feels like some kind of bizarre two-bodied mythological creature. He can’t seem to get his awareness away from where Erik’s arm is wrapped, warm and solid, around his waist. At the same time, he feels that arm as if it were his own. It’s very confusing.

Charles focuses his attention outside, at the cars dotting the parking lot. The pair of boys long-boarding down the side of the street ahead of them. The steel gray of the overcast sky.

They don’t speak and Charles is grateful for it. Looking at everything takes too much concentration for them to even attempt telepathic communication, let alone speech. Always lurking in the back of his mind is Erik’s amusement and strange joy that he’s able to offer Charles this.

They walk down a street lined with houses. Loud music blasts out of one of them, but the others seem quiet. Their owners are probably still sleeping. Another street with a sprawling park. There’s a pond, sparkling in the sunshine that’s started to break through the clouds. A few ducks float across the surface.

“Is there anything you really want to see?” Erik asks out loud, the sound echoing in Charles’ mind.

“Is there anything I _should_ see?” Charles replies, taking special care to make sure he’s using his own mouth to do it.

Erik stops and glances around. “I know where we can go.” They cut across the park and down several back streets lined with houses. They end up on a slender path that cuts through a thick growth of trees and dead-ends at what appears to be nothing more than a twisted heap of metal.

“This is it?” Charles asks, a wry smile on his face.

“Not quite. Now get out of my head, I have some work to do.” Erik takes a couple steps back and raises his hands.

Charles chuckles and obeys, slipping back into his own mind. He can hear the rattle of chains and crackle of metal in front of him. Finally Erik says, “Okay, you can look” and Charles mentally reaches out for him.

The random pile of metal scraps has been transformed into an intricate metal stand. There’s a seat—probably softer than it looks, although still metal—on top and a set of stairs leading up to it. The entire thing is inlaid with threads of silver and platinum.

“This is gorgeous,” Charles whispers.

“Thank you.” Erik offers him a hand and helps guide Charles’ body up the stairs and down on the seat. The trees stretch out around them, bits of blue sky peeking through the leaves above.

Erik takes it in more slowly than he would normally, trying to let Charles see every detail. A cardinal that weaves through the trees in a flash of red. A woodpecker working furiously at the side of a tree. A tree split by lightning that sticks out against its healthy fellows.

“When did you build this place?”

“My second month here.” Erik sighs, thumb drawing circles on the back of Charles’ hand. “I wanted a place to get away sometimes, where I could be completely alone. I realized that if I used metal, I could make it look like it wasn’t anything and then anyone who stumbled back here would just walk right by.”

“Clever.” Charles smiles and Erik looks at him. There’s a heady rush of affection and lust so tightly weaved through their minds that Charles isn’t sure who it belongs to or if it even matters. He removes himself from Erik’s mind and the first thing he feels is the touch of Erik’s lips against his own.

Erik kisses the same way he guides—slow and precise—and then harder when he knows Charles isn’t going to pull away. The telepath leans into the kiss and opens his mouth, inviting Erik in. When Charles nips down on Erik’s bottom lip, all bets are off. It quickly dissolves into a war for dominance. A war that Erik wins by maneuvering Charles until he’s flat out on the metal platform and grinding down on him.

Charles gasps for breath, breaking out of the kiss. “We should… _God_ …get back to school.”

“Why?” Erik’s voice is all charm, rich and sickly sweet. “There’s no one to hear you scream my name out here.”

Charles lets out a sound that is definitely _not_ a whine. His belt comes undone and slips to the wayside. His pants unzip and then Erik’s hand is sliding in. Charles bucks up into Erik’s palm as it wraps around his cock.

Erik radiates lust and desire in waves so powerful that Charles doesn't even have to reach out to him to feel it. For a minute, there's only the sounds of breathing and skin on skin.

Then Charles says, "Why did you stop talking?"

"Did you want me to talk?" Erik asks, his voice rougher than the last time but still not failing to send shivers down Charles' spine.

Charles nods. He opens his mouth to tell him that because he can't see what's going on, it's nice to have someone talking instead of the silence but Erik is way ahead of him. "You look so beautiful stretched out for me like this. I bet you'd let me do anything I wanted, wouldn't you?"

Charles shudders and bites his bottom lip to hold back the moan as Erik's thumb slips over the head of his cock.

“What would you like me to do, Charles?” Erik tugs down Charles’ pants and pulls his cock out into the open air. The relief is instantaneous. “Would you like me to stroke you off just like this? Or a little bit harder?”

“Harder,” Charles groans and Erik speeds up the pace of his strokes until Charles’ back is arching off the platform beneath them. Erik leans down to nip and suck at Charles neck, leaving a mark that the telepath won’t be able to see to cover up when they get back.

Images race through Charles’ mind as Erik projects them.

Charles on his hands and knees as Erik rims him and jerks him off at the same time.

Charles on his back with his legs bent over Erik’s shoulders as the engineer fucks into him.

Charles’ hands bound above his head with slender strips of metal while Erik sucks him off far too slow.

“I want every one of them, if you’ll let me,” Erik murmurs against his pulse point. Charles gasps and it’s only one more stroke before he’s coming. He slumps back as his entire body goes slack.

Once Charles can feel his fingers again, he reaches out for Erik, feeling down his chest to the front of his pants. He twitches when his fingers find wetness and Erik laughs. “Don’t worry about it,” Erik murmurs, leaning up for a quick kiss. “There’ll be next time.”

They stay stretched out on Erik’s platform until the metal becomes uncomfortable. Erik climbs down first, guiding Charles step by step. Once they’re clear, he dissolves it back into a pile of scrap again if the loud creaks and snaps are anything to go by.

It seems to take no time at all before they’re back on campus and standing outside of Charles’ door. “Meet me for dinner?” Erik asks, his voice oddly hesitant.

“Of course.” Charles leans forward and Erik chuckles, taking the cue and leaning down for a goodbye kiss.

***

If Charles had worried that a relationship would ruin their already established friendship, he’s mistaken. They still hang out, still play chess, still meet up for dinner in the dining hall. Now they just also spend a lot of that time together having sex. Charles certainly can’t complain about that.

“You could fuck me, you know,” Erik bites out. Charles is nestled between his legs, two fingers shoved inside him while he sucks Erik’s cock.

Charles rubs himself against the blankets, searching for friction. He pulls off, crooking his fingers in a way that almost makes Erik shoot off the bed. “I want to see you when I do it,” he admits.

He can feel Erik’s sweat against his skin, hear his panting and soft groans, but all he wants is to see what Erik looks like just as he’s about to come.

“I’m sorry.” Erik’s voice cracks on the last word as Charles takes him all the way down into his throat. “I can’t see myself.”

Charles swallows around him. Erik comes with a growled, “Charles!” Even the taste of Erik’s come at the back of his throat and the way he clenches around his fingers isn’t enough. Though he forgets all about it for a while when Erik switches their positions.

***

For a few days after that, Erik spends a lot more time away. He says that he has a lot of midterms—and Charles does too so the study time is nice—but Charles can sense something more underneath the excuses. His surface thoughts ripple with hidden secrets that Charles would only have to push into for a second to know.

But he doesn’t. Erik wouldn’t cheat on him and anything else he’ll reveal on his own time. Then, on the Friday after midterms when most people are out celebrating, Erik shows up at his door practically vibrating with excitement.

“I have a surprise for you,” he says.

“All right.” Charles smiles and starts to reach for his cane, but Erik catches his hand and twines their fingers together.

“We’re not going far.” He tugs Charles out the door and closes it behind them. It turns out they’re only going just down the hall, to Erik’s room. Charles knows it’s the same room, can reach out and touch the half-finished metal sculpture just inside the door, but something feels different about it. Erik closes the door behind them and stands off to the side.

“Now you can look.”

Charles reaches out for Erik’s mind, slipping in just enough to see the world through his eyes. Erik’s excitement and nerves are almost overwhelming. When Charles turns his attention outward, he can see why. The walls of Erik’s room are covered in nothing but mirrors on all sides. Charles grins, a tear slipping down the side of his face. “Thank you.”

Erik wraps both arms around his waist and pulls him in. “I believe you wanted to fuck me?” he replies, his voice low and rich in a way that he knows Charles can never resist.

“Less clothes,” Charles answers, scrabbling to work at the buttons on Erik’s shirt. “Now.”

Charles fumbles at his own buttons as he slips into Erik’s mind, watching him strip slowly. Charles shudders when Erik looks up and matches his own gaze in the mirror. The black button-up is the first to go, followed by his dark slacks and silk boxers.

Erik’s skin is richly tan and his body covered with muscle that Charles has only felt. He’s tall and broad, and his cock stands at attention in front of him, dark red in comparison to the rest of him. There’s a slight flush growing at his collarbone from his awareness of Charles’ attentions.

“Are you coming or not?” Erik asks and Charles snaps back into his own mind to focus properly on his clothes.

“Get on the bed,” Charles says, his voice oddly wrecked. He strips out of his clothes as fast as he can, leaving them in a pile on the floor. Normally he’d put them somewhere safe so he’ll know where to find them in the morning, but this isn’t just a one-night stand. This is Erik.

Charles finds his way to the bed from memory alone and climbs up. He can feel from the dip on the bed that Erik is sitting toward the head and, sure enough, he’s right there when Charles slips into his mind.

“Can I?” Charles asks when Erik pulls the bottle of lube out of his nightstand. Erik nods and gives him a generous amount.

“How do you want me?” Erik asks. His voice is more gentle than Charles has ever heard it.

“On your hands and knees,” Charles replies after thinking about it for a moment. He’d prefer Erik on his back, where he can kiss and touch and feel as much as he wants, but if he’s going to see Erik come then he’s going to need to be facing a mirror.

Erik obeys and Charles can see the way his lips part and his pupils dilate when he slides in the first finger.

It’s almost too much for him to handle. The sight of Erik ready and waiting in front of him. The feeling of being so hard it hurts, compounded by Erik’s arousal that only increases as Charles adds a second finger and starts to thrust slowly. Charles pauses for a moment, focusing on putting up walls around his own mind so that he can see what Erik sees but not experience what he feels.

Charles doesn’t know when—or if—this will ever happen again and he’ll be damned if he lets it end too soon.

“Are you okay?” Erik asks and Charles responds with a nod and a crook of his fingers that sends Erik thrusting back against them. After Charles adds a third finger, Erik’s elbow starts to shake and he drops halfway down onto the bed. He reaches out and tosses a condom onto the bed. “Get in me, now.”

Charles opens his mouth to argue, but it only takes one desperate glance from Erik to change his mind. He rolls the condom on and slicks himself up, taking special care to make sure he’s lined up properly before he pushes in.

“Look at me, Erik,” Charles says and Erik’s head jerks up, fixing on the mirror. His lips are parted and his eyes almost crazed. He moans and his spine shudders as Charles bottoms out.

Charles gives him a moment to adjust and then pulls out, thrusting slowly. Until Erik gets impatient and pushes back hard as Charles is moving in. They both groan and Charles reaches down to grip his hips, thrusting hard.

“Fuck, Charles,” Erik bites out. His back arches up with every thrust.

Charles whimpers and reaches down for Erik’s cock, stroking him in time with the thrusts. He’s not going to last very long, but he wants to see Erik come first. He slides his knees forward, changing the angle just enough to brush against Erik’s prostate.

“Right there,” Erik cries and then he’s coming. His head is thrown back and his eyes are closed. It’s the most beautiful thing Charles has ever seen. That thought is enough to make him come with a broken groan.

Charles collapses to his side on the bed and Erik follows a moment later. He keeps their minds entwined, watching in the mirror as they slowly catch their breaths. Charles withdraws when Erik rolls over and kisses him quickly on the lips.

“How was that?” Erik asks.

There aren’t enough words in the English language to describe it, but Charles settles on the closest one. “Perfect.”

They cuddle close on the bed, Charles’ head on Erik’s chest where he can hear his heart beating, and drift off to sleep.

***

Through a series of college credits in high school, testing out of classes, and summer courses, Charles manages to satisfy all of his graduation requirements and get out the same year as Erik.

Erik doesn’t want to go through all the pomp and circumstance of the graduation ceremony, just wants to get his diploma and flee before the college can realize they’ve made a mistake. Charles insists, because he knows how hard Erik has had to work to reach this moment.

Erik complains about the cost and ridiculousness of the hideous navy blue robes that they’re required to wear until Charles drops to his knees and pushes them up around his waist.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Charles asks when everything is over and they’re stretched out across _their_ bed in the little one-bedroom apartment that’s only theirs for a few more days.

“We’ve had better. The part where you got caught in your robes and almost fell on your face was particularly amusing—” Erik’s words are cut off in a hiss when Charles nips him on the neck. “No, it wasn’t so bad.”

“Good.” They stay silent for a while, Charles doing nothing more than tracing the lines of Erik’s chest with his fingertips.

Then Charles feels a surge of anxiety that doesn’t belong to him. Before he can ask what’s up, Erik blurts out, “Will you marry me?”

Charles freezes. “Aren’t you supposed to get down one knee or something?”

“How do you know I’m not?”

He laughs at that. “I can feel you, darling. You’re lying right next to me.” Charles snuggles closer to Erik’s chest. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”

Erik rolls over for a kiss. Charles laughs and almost cries when he slips into Erik’s mind so that he can help pick out engagement rings for the both of them the very next day.

***

The officiant on their wedding day is mutant-friendly. This comes with the added bonus of not having to explain why Charles’ sister is blue or why they’re getting married in front of a giant mirror.

It takes less than a second to slip into Erik’s mind and look outward. Charles has had a lot of practice over the past three years. Erik looks into the mirror and it takes both their breaths away.

Raven had thrown a fit when Charles had insisted that neither of them would be wearing tuxedos for their wedding, but in the end it was their decision. Erik didn’t want to rent one and wear someone else’s clothing for such a momentous occasion. He also wouldn’t hear of Charles buying them both one, no matter how many times Charles reminded him that they’d be sharing incomes in a few months anyway.

It’s worth it. Charles is wearing a rich blue suit topped off with a lighter tie that, together, really bring out his eyes. Erik can’t take his eyes off him, so much so that Charles has to give him a mental prod to get him to take a glance at himself. Erik’s suit is charcoal gray with a silver tie. His mouth twitches like he’s trying not to break into a grin, but the sheer depth of emotion in his eyes gives him away.

“May we begin?” the officiant asks.

“Yes, sorry,” Charles murmurs and withdraws back into his own head, the touch of Erik’s hands on his own grounding him, as they both turn back to each other.

Charles barely hears the rest of the ceremony. He can’t stop himself from stealing peeks at the two of them, standing side by side ready to start their life together. He tries to pay attention through the vows, but he can’t help wanting to see what Erik looks like as he pledges to spend the rest of his life with Charles.

Erik looks like he’s almost glowing. His mouth is stiff but Charles knows why when a single tear slips through his defenses. Charles squeezes his hand reassuringly and retreats back into his own head to say the words himself.

“I now pronounce you partners for life,” the officiant says. “You may kiss.”

Charles stays still as Erik pulls him close and leans down for a kiss. He means to keep it short and chaste, but he should know better than to think that Erik will stick with the plan. Charles pulls away when Raven lets out a whistle.

She and her boyfriend of four years, Hank, come running up to offer their congratulations. It’s several minutes before they agree to go get the car and Charles has a few moments alone with his new husband.

“How does it feel, being married?” Charles murmurs into Erik’s shoulder as they just stand there and hold each other, neither making a move for anything more. They’ll have plenty of time for that later, before they leave for their tour of Europe in the morning.

“Like the whole world belongs to me,” Erik replies. Charles feels the wedding band on his finger radiate a comforting warmth and he sends a rush of affection Erik’s way in return.


End file.
